Tibor Rieger, the sculptor

„There is no such thing as experimental art, just as there is no such thing as experimental prayer.”

The Bronze Relief of the Coronation Mantle

(Based on the study by Mária Prokopp)

On the 1000th anniversary of the foundation of the Hungarian Kingdom and the coronation of King Stephen I Tibor Rieger turned to one of the first and most beautiful works of art in Hungarian Christianity. The sculptor worked for four years, from 2000 to 2004 on the bronze relief of the coronation mantle. He designed it as a part of a future Saint Stephen memorial, in which the mantle covers the throne standing on the platform. The coronation mantle means the protection and help of God to the king, On the 1000th anniversary of the foundation of the Hungarian Kingdom and the coronation of King Stephen I Tibor Rieger turned to one of the first and most beautiful works of art in Hungarian Christianity. The sculptor worked for four years, from 2000 to 2004 on the bronze relief of the coronation mantle. He designed it as a part of a future Saint Stephen memorial, in which the mantle covers the throne standing on the platform. The coronation mantle means the protection and help of God to the king, which safeguards him to allow him to fulfil his mission for the benefit of the country.

The ornate vestment, which was donated to the royal basilica by King Stephan and Queen Gisela in 1031, was a uniquely great work of art and intellectual creation in its era as well. Currently the nearly 1000 year old textile is displayed in the exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum, in semi-darkness, protected from light. The extraordinary artistic depictions on it are hardly recognisable today. Tibor Rieger recreated the depictions of this decaying masterpiece with many years of artistic work: he created a three dimensional display of the plane composition.

The resulted work of art presents this national relic that is unparalleled in European art, 1.5 times magnified. The work of Tibor Rieger is not a copy but a masterpiece of sculpture, which transplanted the world of the two dimensional colourful textile into a three dimensional relief sculpture. As we stand before the sculpture, it gives a vivid image of our ancestors’ God praising and thanksgiving one thousand years ago, as well as the vision of Heaven and the Holy Trinity with angels, prophets, apostles and the Main Saints of the Church.

The relief was exhibited at several places. It was displayed in 2010 at the Christian meeting in Ravenna, and in 2012 it was exhibited at the Castle Quarter Gallery of Buda Castle Municipality. In 2017 it was inaugurated on Easter Monday in the sanctuary of the Buda Castle Mary Magdalene ruin church, which is its intended final place.

“Almost everything has been destroyed from the era of Saint Stephen, only foundation stones remain, but one of the most fragile materials i.e. textile has survived, and it has existed for almost one thousand years. I thought that the spirit of King Stephan’s court could be best rendered through the mantle.”

(Tibor Rieger)

Biography and life work

“My relatives both on my father’s and mother’s sides come from the rural environment of the village of Csépa in the Great Hungarian Plain. The village became desolate during the Turkish occupation, and it was later repopulated by poor ‘Palóc’ people from the Hungarian Highlands region. At the end of the 1930s, my parents moved from Csépa to Gyálliget that was a part of Alsónémedi at the time and is Gyál today. I was born there, but I consider Csallóköz my real birthplace, which at the time was a part of Hungary. My first memories are tied to Királyfiakarcsa, which is a tiny village in the Highlands. There are twelve Karcsa’s, and they all share one church. They still preserve the order that was defined by Saint Stephen, according to which “Every ten villages shall build a church”. After the war, in 1946 we were forcefully relocated from here, and we settled in the village of Levél near the Austrian border, where Swabian people were evicted from. The population of the village consisted of poor people evicted from the Hungarian Highlands, Transylvania, Borsod and other places. In this fascinating environment, we as children were happy despite our poor conditions. After primary school my parents enrolled me into the Győr Benedictine Secondary School, which was a small island of Christian faith in the atheist world of communism. From here I went to the College of Fine Arts, where my instructor, Pál Pátzay’s principle was that art cannot be taught, however, a trade can, which was a quite serious task as well. The five-year training was followed by a master programme, and I graduated in 1966. The above period was followed by some rough years, and I really started to find my way in the 1980s.”

Tibor Rieger is an outstanding artist of sacral sculpture. Several of his works of art were inspired by figures that can be associated with the Christian past of Hungarian history. His works of art include several memorials.

He uses stone, bronze, occasionally wood for his sculptures. In addition to preparing statuettes, from the 1980s monumental sculptures in public squares and reliefs placed onto public buildings became dominant in his work. Hungarian public squares and buildings are decorated by almost fifty of his statues and other works of art.

Among his monumental works of art, the Millenium Gate of the Basilica of the Benedictine Pannonhalma Archabbey (1966), the 1956 monument of Mosonmagyaróvár (1991), the monument to the victims of World Wars I and II, the monument of the evictions, and the victims of 1956 in Hegyeshalom (1993), and the relief to the memory of the victims of World War II in Kecskemét (1998) are outstanding. The Saint George Fancy Well in Győr, the sculpture of Pál Teleki in Balatonboglár (2004) and the double sculpture of Gergely Czuczor and Ányos Jedlik scientist monk teachers are also among his works. In addition to the above, the 1848 memorial in Várpalota, and among his recent works the Virgin Mary the Patron Saint of Hungary sculpture in Királyfiakarcsa, the sculpture of Gábor Baross in Győr, and the Mindszenty Memorial in Máriaremete should be mentioned as his significant works of art.

Tibor Rieger, the sculptor

„There is no such thing as experimental art, just as there is no such thing as experimental prayer.”

Biography and life work

“My relatives both on my father’s and mother’s sides come from the rural environment of the village of Csépa in the Great Hungarian Plain. The village became desolate during the Turkish occupation, and it was later repopulated by poor ‘Palóc’ people from the Hungarian Highlands region. At the end of the 1930s, my parents moved from Csépa to Gyálliget that was a part of Alsónémedi at the time and is Gyál today. I was born there, but I consider Csallóköz my real birthplace, which at the time was a part of Hungary. My first memories are tied to Királyfiakarcsa, which is a tiny village in the Highlands. There are twelve Karcsa’s, and they all share one church. They still preserve the order that was defined by Saint Stephen, according to which “Every ten villages shall build a church”. After the war, in 1946 we were forcefully relocated from here, and we settled in the village of Levél near the Austrian border, where Swabian people were evicted from. The population of the village consisted of poor people evicted from the Hungarian Highlands, Transylvania, Borsod and other places. In this fascinating environment, we as children were happy despite our poor conditions. After primary school my parents enrolled me into the Győr Benedictine Secondary School, which was a small island of Christian faith in the atheist world of communism. From here I went to the College of Fine Arts, where my instructor, Pál Pátzay’s principle was that art cannot be taught, however, a trade can, which was a quite serious task as well. The five-year training was followed by a master programme, and I graduated in 1966. The above period was followed by some rough years, and I really started to find my way in the 1980s.”

Tibor Rieger is an outstanding artist of sacral sculpture. Several of his works of art were inspired by figures that can be associated with the Christian past of Hungarian history. His works of art include several memorials.

He uses stone, bronze, occasionally wood for his sculptures. In addition to preparing statuettes, from the 1980s monumental sculptures in public squares and reliefs placed onto public buildings became dominant in his work. Hungarian public squares and buildings are decorated by almost fifty of his statues and other works of art.

Among his monumental works of art, the Millenium Gate of the Basilica of the Benedictine Pannonhalma Archabbey (1966), the 1956 monument of Mosonmagyaróvár (1991), the monument to the victims of World Wars I and II, the monument of the evictions, and the victims of 1956 in Hegyeshalom (1993), and the relief to the memory of the victims of World War II in Kecskemét (1998) are outstanding. The Saint George Fancy Well in Győr, the sculpture of Pál Teleki in Balatonboglár (2004) and the double sculpture of Gergely Czuczor and Ányos Jedlik scientist monk teachers are also among his works. In addition to the above, the 1848 memorial in Várpalota, and among his recent works the Virgin Mary the Patron Saint of Hungary sculpture in Királyfiakarcsa, the sculpture of Gábor Baross in Győr, and the Mindszenty Memorial in Máriaremete should be mentioned as his significant works of art.

The Bronze Relief of the Coronation Mantle

(Based on the study by Mária Prokopp)

On the 1000th anniversary of the foundation of the Hungarian Kingdom and the coronation of King Stephen I Tibor Rieger turned to one of the first and most beautiful works of art in Hungarian Christianity. The sculptor worked for four years, from 2000 to 2004 on the bronze relief of the coronation mantle. He designed it as a part of a future Saint Stephen memorial, in which the mantle covers the throne standing on the platform. The coronation mantle means the protection and help of God to the king, On the 1000th anniversary of the foundation of the Hungarian Kingdom and the coronation of King Stephen I Tibor Rieger turned to one of the first and most beautiful works of art in Hungarian Christianity. The sculptor worked for four years, from 2000 to 2004 on the bronze relief of the coronation mantle. He designed it as a part of a future Saint Stephen memorial, in which the mantle covers the throne standing on the platform. The coronation mantle means the protection and help of God to the king, which safeguards him to allow him to fulfil his mission for the benefit of the country.

The ornate vestment, which was donated to the royal basilica by King Stephan and Queen Gisela in 1031, was a uniquely great work of art and intellectual creation in its era as well. Currently the nearly 1000 year old textile is displayed in the exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum, in semi-darkness, protected from light. The extraordinary artistic depictions on it are hardly recognisable today. Tibor Rieger recreated the depictions of this decaying masterpiece with many years of artistic work: he created a three dimensional display of the plane composition.

The resulted work of art presents this national relic that is unparalleled in European art, 1.5 times magnified. The work of Tibor Rieger is not a copy but a masterpiece of sculpture, which transplanted the world of the two dimensional colourful textile into a three dimensional relief sculpture. As we stand before the sculpture, it gives a vivid image of our ancestors’ God praising and thanksgiving one thousand years ago, as well as the vision of Heaven and the Holy Trinity with angels, prophets, apostles and the Main Saints of the Church.

The relief was exhibited at several places. It was displayed in 2010 at the Christian meeting in Ravenna, and in 2012 it was exhibited at the Castle Quarter Gallery of Buda Castle Municipality. In 2017 it was inaugurated on Easter Monday in the sanctuary of the Buda Castle Mary Magdalene ruin church, which is its intended final place.

“Almost everything has been destroyed from the era of Saint Stephen, only foundation stones remain, but one of the most fragile materials i.e. textile has survived, and it has existed for almost one thousand years. I thought that the spirit of King Stephan’s court could be best rendered through the mantle.”

(Tibor Rieger)

Other works by Tibor Rieger

Click on the images to enlarge them

Thanks to köztérkép.hu for the pictures.